Financial Education Video Game to Help South Carolina Students Score Financial Touchdowns

May 11, 2015

Charleston, SC - May 11, 2015 - Carolina Panthers Linebacker Thomas Davis and Tight End Greg Olsen, joined U.S. Senator Tim Scott and Visa Inc. in South Carolina today to tackle head on the issue of financial literacy improvement among Palmetto State teens. They announced an expansion of the statewide effort to improve the money management skills of high school and middle school students with Financial Football, a free educational video game and classroom curriculum developed by the NFL and Visa Inc. The game is being distributed by the senator’s three regional offices to 506 middle schools and high schools in South Carolina.

Senator Scott kicked off this financial literacy campaign at R.B. Stall High School, his alma mater, in North Charleston with help from the 2014 Walter Peyton NFL Man of The Year winner Davis, Pro Bowler Olsen and Visa. They led teams of students in a hard-fought, high energy game of Financial Football. Senator Scott’s team won the game with a final score of 15-8. Earlier, Olsen, who was named All NFC in 2014 by the Pro Football Writers Association, and Davis, named Pro Football Focus All-Pro in 2013 and an Ed Block Courage Award winner in 2011 shared their personal experiences on the importance of money management with the 50 students at Stall.

“Financial literacy is an important key to accessing all the powerful opportunities our country offers. I have seen firsthand the ripple effects on families and communities when financial literacy is made a priority,” said Senator Scott, co-chair of the Senate Financial Literacy Caucus. “Through Financial Football, I am pleased that we will be able to encourage more middle and high school students in South Carolina to learn about taking care of their personal finances. I believe that this exciting and interactive program will provide each student throughout the 506 schools it’s being given to with a strong financial playbook they can build upon for the rest of their lives.”

The centerpiece of a nationwide educational initiative with Visa, the NFL and the NFL Players Association, Financial Football helps students and adults tackle their financial futures. The game is accompanied by a classroom curriculum.

It doesn’t matter whether you make minimum wage or millions,” said Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis. “If you don’t learn to budget, save, invest, and pay bills on time, the consequences can be devastating.”

“Kids need to learn to make smart money management decisions early in life,” said Carolina Panthers Tight End, Greg Olsen. “It takes the combined efforts of parents, teachers and mentors within the community to give teenagers a strong background in personal finance.”

Available online at www.southcarolina.financialfootball.com, Financial Football puts students’ fiscal knowledge to the test in an online simulation game environment by combining the structure and rules of the NFL with financial education questions of varying difficulty. Visa has also released the game as a free iPhone app on iTunes, along with an optimized HD iPad version.

“For over a decade, Visa has been committed to promoting financial literacy and we are proud to assist Senator Scott in his continuing efforts to strengthen financial education,” said Nat Sillin, Head of U.S. financial education, Visa Inc.

This launch is part of a national educational campaign with Visa, the NFL and the NFL Players Association, now in its seventh season. Since 2006, Visa has reached agreements with forty-six states and the District of Columbia to distribute Financial Football to every high school and middle school in those states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Financial Football is part of Practical Money Skills for Life (www.practicalmoneyskills.com) a free, award-winning financial education program that reaches millions of people around the world each year. Launched in 1995, the program is now available in ten languages in thirty countries. At Practical Money Skills for Life, educators, parents and students can access free educational resources including personal finance articles, games, lesson plans and more. Visa also runs What’s My Score (www.whatsmyscore.org), a leading higher education consumer awareness program.

About Visa
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit usa.visa.com/about-visa, visacorporate.tumblr.com and @VisaNews.